What is Visio Divina?

Visio Divina came to me while studying at Talbot School of Theology's Institute for Spiritual Formation. One day while I was meeting with my spiritual director she brought in a paper copy of an icon. She had me gaze and reflect on what it meant to me, without telling me what it was supposed to mean or what the right reflection was. As an artist I was intrigued by how God's Spirit would speak to me in such a unstructured manner -- there was no text to exegete or commentary to reference to see if I got the answer right. It was God speaking to me personally through beauty and my senses. I later learned that St. Ignatius highly recommended visualizing Scripture -- using your imagination to observe yourself playing a part (observer, one of the key characters) in the text. He believed new and deeper understanding would emerge. Genius.

All that to say I found an interesting article by Patheos.com on "Praying with Art: Visio Divina" that I wanted to share.

How have you experienced God speaking to you through art, or beauty? How did that impact your relationship with God? I'd love to hear - please share in the comments.